Mapantz wrote:wow - that looks as though it has just been found after lying in a muddy field for 6 months.

I hope it gets sorted quickly for you, Ray.

Thanks Mapantz. I sent it back to ProData this morning. They'll have it tomorrow so maybe their first impression before the weekend. Seems a poor design when muck can get inside such a critical area. In comparison the cups were almost spotless!

The bearing itself doesn't look bad externally, but the 'sealed for life' bearings nowadays have a tiny amount of grease in them. I suppose for an anemometer any bearing drag at all will be critical so these may have even less! I find that bearings that are stationary for long periods are more likely to fail (due to rust on the balls) than those in constant use.

jdc wrote:The bearing itself doesn't look bad externally, but the 'sealed for life' bearings nowadays have a tiny amount of grease in them. I suppose for an anemometer any bearing drag at all will be critical so these may have even less! I find that bearings that are stationary for long periods are more likely to fail (due to rust on the balls) than those in constant use.

Thanks John. With dead calms quite rare at 10 meters it's reasonable to assume there shouldn't be any rust internally. In any case shouldn't they use stainless steel if this is critical?

It will probably be a few days before ProData give me their analysis of the problem.

Heard back from ProData this morning. They agree that the spindle is not moving freely because of dirt inside the bearing. They have kindly offered to replace the wind cartridge free of charge.

They need to order some from Davis so it will be a few weeks before it's returned to me. I have asked why the inner workings of such a delicate instrument can become contaminated after only 3 years. Design suspect?

I've had the Davis anemometers for over 20 years now. The only improvement to them over the years is the orientation of the reed switch, there is also a molded in drip edge on the newer wind cups.. For 5 years I used to old Weather Monitor II style on my Vantage Pro 2 station with no problems.

Last year I started having a problem and changed out to the Vantage Pro 2 style and it worked for awhile. Then quit working again last week. I had to change out the transmitter.

That being said the Davis techs were clueless on the compatibility of the two anemometers and insisted the older style would not work with the Vantage Pro 2. And they are wrong. They will send you a push button switch you can plug into the wind port on the transmitter. With this you can test the transmitter as each press is the same as the reed switch opening and closing.

Strange you had so much dirt in there as mine do not have any. The bearings are ball bearings and probably cost under $10 retail. I should disassemble one of my old ones as I have many small bearings here. Maybe I can find one that fits.

Red Raspberry wrote:I've had the Davis anemometers for over 20 years now. The only improvement to them over the years is the orientation of the reed switch, there is also a molded in drip edge on the newer wind cups.. For 5 years I used to old Weather Monitor II style on my Vantage Pro 2 station with no problems.

Last year I started having a problem and changed out to the Vantage Pro 2 style and it worked for awhile. Then quit working again last week. I had to change out the transmitter.

That being said the Davis techs were clueless on the compatibility of the two anemometers and insisted the older style would not work with the Vantage Pro 2. And they are wrong. They will send you a push button switch you can plug into the wind port on the transmitter. With this you can test the transmitter as each press is the same as the reed switch opening and closing.

Strange you had so much dirt in there as mine do not have any. The bearings are ball bearings and probably cost under $10 retail. I should disassemble one of my old ones as I have many small bearings here. Maybe I can find one that fits.

Is the wind cup positioned on the shaft correctly?

You should know all about Davis anemometers then! Whilst Davis may send out things to their US customers there's no chance for us Brits or anyone else outside the States. You're very lucky.

Yes, I don't understand why it was so dirty inside. I don't live in an urban area and there is no industry near me. Roads and traffic of course but also plenty of fields. As far as it being positioned correctly the instructions are pretty simple. Push it up and tighten the allen screw. It should drop slightly when released. It does.

Haven't heard back from my UK supplier yet but shouldn't be too long now. No rush as the returned one will become a spare.

My Pro 2 anemometer sites around 60cm apart from the FO WH1081 Anemometer but at an extra 1.2m, and my Davis anemometer will not move while the 1081 will move, it can read up to 6.1 before the Davis considers moving. Bearings and that are clean and still does it, beats me why but it's something I'm not a fan of. But once it gets going then it's fine.